Gisburn Volunteers 2014

Published on: Jan 13 2014 by Jon Swift

The seventh year of Gisburn volunteer trail building got off to a good start in 2014 with 20 people turning out for the first dig day of the year, racking up 101 man hours of trail building. Pretty good considering how foul the January weather was (at least it wasn't snowing which is about the only thing that stops the building, difficult to build when you can't see the ground). Despite the evidence from the photo of the left (most of the diggers photos seem to be of people standing around having lunch, when they're working they must be too busy to take photos!) a great amount of trail got built on Sunday, with around 40m of trail surfaced and 40m dug from scratch. Despite the progress they've still got a lot to do finish the new section of trail which it is hoped to open in late spring or early summer (possibly early if they keep having turnouts like Sunday). In the mean time it's important that people don't ride the trail as it needs time to bed in and any damage done slows down the building.

As it was the start of the new year it was also time to review last years achievements and reward the efforts of the builders from 2013. A total of 1076.5 hours was put into the trails by volunteers in 2013, so at a cost of £10 per including national insurance etc. that's the equilavent of over £10,000 in labour. A total of 53 different people helped out giving anything from 4 hours to over 120 hours. To say thank to those who have given their time in the last year free parking passes are given to those who have put in enough hours. Anyone who has clocked up 12 hours (3 dig days) or more gets an annual pass to park at Gisburn for free for 2014 (an annual parking pass to buy costs £30). Ten people were eligible for this pass. For those that clocked up twenty hours or more (5 dig days) a parking pass covering Gisburn, Hamsterly, Kielder, Whinlatter and Grizedale (priceless as you can't buy these, buying the individual passes would set you back a whopping £150). 15 people qualified for one of these passes.

Any hours logged from now onwards will count towards a 2015 pass.

On top of the opportunity to earn a free parking pass all diggers get a free T-Shirt when attending a dig day. Stocks of the original batch of T-Shirts are running out so there's a competition running at the moment to design a new one via the Gisburn Trail Building Facebook page. There's no prize other than the opportunity to wear your own design. Entries so far include:

The first dig of the year was also the day of the raffle draw. 170 tickets were sold at £2 each raising just under £320 after PayPal charges which was brilliant. The diggers are trying to decide what to spend it on but top of the list at the moment is new gloves, not particularly sexy but essential pieces of trail building kit.

The winning tickets were

First Prize - b6186wZm - Julian Gardner

Second Prize - a19R7192 - Marc Brown

Third Prize - fV34A513 - Paul Morgan

All winners have been notified by email (lucky gits).

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and to the Escape to Gisburn Enduro category winners who donated the prizes in the first place.

If you want to come and help build the trails at Gisburn you'd be very welcome. Dig days are scheduled for the second Sunday in each month (next planned dig day will be Sunday the 9th of February). Everything is provided except your lunch. If you ride regularly at Gisburn it's now doubly worth your time as you get to help design the trails and now get free parking. If you want more details and to be put on the mailing list email Jon Swift at jon.swift@pmba.org.uk or take a look at the Gisburn volunteers page on the PMBA site.